


Everything Has Changed

by thesimplyuninspired



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Fluff, How Do I Tag, Multi, Polyamory, Uncharted 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-18
Updated: 2017-01-18
Packaged: 2018-09-18 09:26:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9378449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesimplyuninspired/pseuds/thesimplyuninspired
Summary: Chloe leaves Nepal with Nathan and Elena.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So I just finished my very first playthrough of the first two Uncharted games, and by the final third of Among Thieves I had decided that Nathan/Elena/Chloe was undeniable and very good and was completely unswayed by the ending. And I decided I couldn't move on to Uncharted 3 until I finished this. Never written these character before, probably will never write them again, take that as you will.

In the low light of the house, and certainly half-delirious with pain medication, Elena clasps Chloe’s wrist and says, “Don’t go.”

Outside, in the cool mountain air, Nathan touches her shoulder and says, “Wait.”

Quietly, Chloe considers her options. She studies their expressions: Nathan’s hopeful and so much more open than he ever considers, Elena’s certain and warm. Privately, Chloe feels something give, just slightly.

“I’ll go as far as Bengal,” she says, “but I do not guarantee going further.”

***

The Bay of Bengal becomes Andaman and Nicobar. Nathan and Elena silently agree to say nothing about it. They wind up on a boat, as Nathan has had his fill and then some with heights recently. Elena and Chloe silently agree to indulge him on this for now.

Some of the sailors cast them odd looks, but fortunately they’re all too busy manning the ship to pay them any more attention. The only other passenger is a small man who keeps to himself and writes constantly in a weather-beaten journal. Needless to say, Elena and Chloe do not pass up the opportunity to point out the resemblance, to much fake laughter from Nathan.

Privately, Nathan is relieved.

***

No one comments on them sharing a bed. It’s just big enough for the three of them if they snuggle, but it feels odd to split the difference. So Nathan and Chloe squish Elena between them and they somehow manage to sleep alright.

Once, the rocking of the boat wakes Nathan in the night, brushing the nightmare out of his head like cobwebs. Elena remains warm and breathing and alive against his chest, and he can’t resist brushing his fingers up her arm. On its way down her side, his hand bumps into Chloe’s, and he sees the light reflecting from her eyes. She glances up at him and in the dark he sees his own terror there, fragile in a way he’s not accustomed to seeing.

They say nothing. Their fingers link together on Elena’s hip and they simply breathe, keeping silent watch.

***

Occasionally, Nathan catches himself reaching for Elena without thinking. They sit at lunch and Nathan reaches for her hand, this thumb brushing over her knuckles. He catches up to her in the corridor and his arm is casually fitting around her waist. He reaches for her whenever she’s within range, touching her shoulder, brushing her hair, fitting her cheeks in his palms as he kisses her forehead.

He worries slightly about this development, but he sees Chloe doing it, too. Not with physical touches, exactly, but more in the way how she asks if Elena has eaten enough. How she settles next to Elena on deck and watches her, a little more closely than necessary. How she catches Elena when she missteps, or straightens the collar of her shirt. Sometimes she catches Nathan watching, and when he smirks she rolls her eyes.

But it’s nice, to know he’s not alone in this.

“You two are awfully clingy,” Elena comments wryly.

“Don’t worry about it,” Nathan replies, slinging an arm around her shoulders and drawing her close.

***

On the train, Nathan had worried for a moment that maybe it wasn’t going to work.

Elena and Chloe spoke well of each other and never seemed irritated by the other’s presence, but he had started to notice that they rarely seemed to be in the same room when he wasn’t in it. Most of the time, he seemed to be seeing them separate from each other, and they never mentioned if they had talked without him. It was confusing because he knew that Elena had been just as invested in adding Chloe as he had been, but for a brief moment, he has wondered if maybe he had overestimated.

Now, Chloe and Elena were often together, talking inanely about this and that. On occasion, he found them lounging around on deck, Elena trading jokes with the sailors and translating what they said to Chloe, causing her to chuckle. They offered each other food and sat together in the sun, sometimes not saying a word. After a few days, they would start to chitter to each other and giggle about private jokes that Nathan wasn’t party to, which he didn’t mind, but would sometimes involve shooting him sly looks and snickering, which he did.

But it’s worth it. It’s absolutely worth it. He watches them interact, smiling private smiles and reaching gently for each other, and Nathan can’t help but think how right it all feels. He casually places kisses on Chloe’s knuckles, and brushes Elena’s hair from her face, and it feels good, it feels natural, like puzzle pieces clicking into place and the picture coming together, slow and sure.

It’s only on the last night, when he comes to their room to find Chloe asleep on the bed and Elena curled around her, kissing the top of her head, that Nathan realizes that he is happy.

***

The day they disembark, the sky is grey with heavy clouds, and Chloe appears to be in good spirits. But for all her apparent cheer, Elena can see she’s nervous. Even though they haven’t known each other especially long, Elena would like to think they’ve spent enough time together that she now has a pretty good grasp on some of Chloe’s tells.

There are a lot of things that could be said today, Elena thinks. A lot of things that went without discussion on the way here, a lot of things that they all decided to leave be and undisturbed. Things that would probably come up again in less favorable ways.

But for now, Elena simply slips her hand into one of Chloe’s, and smiles to herself as Nathan takes the other. For now, they have a lot more time to work it all out together.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos are lovely, comments are welcome.


End file.
